From the Shores of Tripoli

By James Kelly

Lured out of Libya, Edwin Wilson stumbles in from the cold

For most of his life, Edwin Wilson, 54, stayed in the shadows, operating in the twilight world of spies and international intrigue. From 1951 to 1976, he worked for the CIA and the Office of Naval Intelligence, running networks of foreign agents and helping set up covert operations. When he left Government service, he teamed up with another onetime spook, Frank Terpil, and he is now charged with spinning his contacts and skills into a worldwide web of illegal arms deals and terrorist activities, chiefly for the regime of Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Sought by Washington since 1980, Wilson took refuge in a seaside villa in Tripoli, beyond the reach of frustrated U.S. authorities. But last week he got careless, and federal agents managed to ensnare him in an ingenious trap set on three continents.

Wilson passed his time in Tripoli reading history books and watching videotaped adventure films, but he was growing bored. He also was afraid that his life might be in danger, and some of his associates, cooperating with the U.S. Marshals Service, began feeding that fear. Bit by bit, Wilson was persuaded that he would be welcome in the Dominican Republic, where, his associates assured him, the government would grant him asylum.

Convinced that he had another safe haven, Wilson left Tripoli a week ago last Monday for Switzerland, carrying a fake Irish passport in the name of Philip McCormick. What Wilson did not know was that U.S. officials had helped arrange his phony papers and that as soon as he stepped off the plane at Zurich he was being shadowed by a pair of federal marshals. He then flew directly to Madrid, where he boarded Iberia International Airlines flight 945 for Santo Domingo.

When his plane landed at 4:40 a.m. last Tuesday, he was met by Dominican authorities and informed, much to his surprise, that his papers were not in order. Detained in the airport's international zone, Wilson was told just minutes before takeoff that he was being placed on Dominicana Airlines flight 902 to New York City, leaving at 9 a.m.; when the fugitive explained that he did not have a visa for the U.S., the local officials told him not to worry, he would probably be welcomed anyway. Wilson boarded the plane, as did two U.S. marshals. When the plane landed at Kennedy International Airport at 12:30 p.m., the marshals arrested him. "He was very gracious," said one of the marshals. "He acted as if he had played a hard game and was being a good loser."

Meanwhile, in Washington, Attorney General William French Smith announced the capture and praised the U.S. Marshals Service for an "outstanding investigative effort." The Justice Department had been trying to lure Wilson out of Libya since last year. Twice the rogue agent nearly walked into the trap, then warily drew away. The final--and successful--plot, devised by the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, was deemed "too risky" by the FBI, according to Justice officials. But the unheralded Marshals Service, a 2,100-member arm of the Justice Department, responsible for capturing fugitives, embraced the scheme. "The marshals are the Avis of law enforcement agencies," noted one Justice official. "They try harder."

The marshals' performance last week required both daring and diplomacy. Although top law-enforcement officials in Switzerland and Spain were notified about Wilson's journey, airport officials at Zurich and Madrid were not told the true identity of McCormick. High-ranking Dominican police officials were briefed on the plan, and cooperated fully at the airport. Since Wilson was never officially admitted to the Dominican Republic, he did not need to be extradited. One top U.S. law-enforcement official said of the delicate operation: "If at any time Wilson had turned left instead of right, it would have ruined the whole thing."

The quarry was worth the effort. In 1980 Wilson and Terpil (who is still at large and was last reported to be living in Beirut) were indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington for supplying explosives to Libya, recruiting military personnel to run a training camp for Libyan terrorists and conspiring to kill a Gaddafi opponent living in exile in Egypt. Wilson allegedly hired former American military pilots to fly Libyan planes and helicopters, with some of them taking part in Tripoli's intervention in neighboring Chad in 1980. He is also suspected of peddling sophisticated American electronic equipment to Middle East countries and attempting to sell U.S. computer technology to the Soviet Union. Investigators in Colorado have linked him to a former Green Beret who shot a Libyan student in Fort Collins two years ago. Federal grand juries in several cities are looking into his activities, and more indictments are likely this summer.

In his illegal dealings, Wilson often turned for help to former agents as well as to firms he used as covers in his CIA days. Indeed, some intelligence officials fear that Wilson may be able to reveal classified details about his past CIA activities or current links, if any, to the agency, and they may push the Justice Department to strike a deal with Wilson and not bring the case to trial.

If the case is tried, it will be the first major test of the Classified Information Procedures Act of 1980, designed to prevent defendants from "graymailing" the Government with threats to disclose secret information. The law allows the presiding judge to determine what evidence is too sensitive to be admitted in court. Wilson, who was being held on $20 million bail in a Washington-area jail, refused to enter a plea at his arraignment hearing Friday. His attorney, John Keats, instead argued that he needed two weeks to investigate whether his client had been illegally apprehended. Judge John Pratt denied the request and entered a plea of not guilty on Wilson's behalf. Keats hinted that the Government might be greatly embarrassed if it presses its case. Said he: "We're at the start of a great adventure, if it goes to trial." --By James Kelly. Reported by Jay Branegan/Washington and Peter Stoler/New York

With reporting by Jay Branegan, Peter Stoler

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